1. SLINGSHOT LEVEL EDITOR

    There is actually a built in level editor in Slingshot although it's not 
    accessible from the main menu. I made it mostly for my own use but since I need 
    help with creating levels it's now necessary to at least try to write something
    on how to use it.

2. CREATING OR EDITING A LEVEL

    To create or edit a level all you have to do is starting Slingshot with the 
    level file name as the first and only argument.

    python Slingshot.pt mylevel.lvl

    Slingshot will now start in Play-mode with an empty level. To enter Edit-mode 
    press F2. (You can always toggle between Edit- and Play-mode using F2)

    To save your changes, make sure you are in Edit-mode and then press F3.
    
    To exit press Esc.

3. PLAYER LOCATION

    Press the middle mouse button (often the mouse wheel it self) to set the
    player location. 

4. ADDING, MOVING AND REMOVING OBJECTS

    To add an object just press left mouse button on an empty spot. You can move 
    an object by clicking and holding down the left mouse button while dragging it.

    To remove an object, click on it with right mouse button.

5. SELECTING OBJECT TYPES

    There are several different object types that can be used when building a level.
    To change type, select and object by clicking on it with your left mouse button. 
    Then use the mouse wheel to flick through the different types of object.
    
    5.1 Planets (and a moon (and a Deathstar-replica))
                
        Earth, Jupiter,Mercury,Venus,Mars and the Moon has all different sizes and
        gravity. The Earth is a little special because you'll have to pay -2500 points
        should you hit it with a torpedo (or if an Asteroid crashes into it).
        
        The Deathstar-replica can be considered a planet with negative gravity. It 
        will "push-away" torpedoes.

    5.2 Force field station (small metal sphere)
    
        Acts like a planet but without gravity. You can use this as an obstacle or
        as a force field connection point. (See the FORCE FIELDS section below.)

    5.3 Wormhole (like a vortex)
    
        Like any normal wormhole there should be at least two of them and they
        should be connected. (See the WORMHOLES section below.)
    
    5.4 Asteroid (small rocky thingy)
    
        A threat to Earth that must be destroyed by the player.    
        (See the ASTEROIDS section below.)

    5.5. Alien ship (looks very much like a borg-sphere if you're a trekkie)
    
        An unmanned space ship that will appear to beam back destroyed wast pods.
        A real pain in the ***. (See the ALIENS section below.)

    5.6 Nuclear wast pods (little green spheres with a radiation symbol)
        
        These are the main targets of all levels. When there are no more green pods
        the mission is completed.
        
    5.7 Score modifiers (little yellow spheres)
        
        The score modifiers will modify the score for a single shot. Should the player
        get 250 points for a shot and hits the x2 modifier the result will be 500 points.
   
    5.8 Bonus pods (little blue spheres)
    
        Here is a list of what the pods are good for:
        
            A - gives player aiming assistance for the next shot.
            G - will help torpedoes to avoid planet gravity.
            X - gives player 10 extra torpedoes.
            W - warp to the pods location.
            M - split up the torpedo in three.
            P - gives player 3-power shots that can pass through force fields.
        
6. ORBIT

    All objects can orbit around other objects. To set an orbit select the object that
    you want to be in orbit by clicking it with the left mouse button. Then select the 
    object it should spin around by holding down shift and then left-click the target object.
    
    Now you should have a white line between the two objects and a number under the orbiting 
    object. The number is the orbiting speed. You can change it by pressing the page up and page
    down buttons.
    
    To remove an orbit connection select the orbiting object, hold down shift and click on an 
    empty space.
    

7. FORCE FIELDS

    A force field can be used to make a level a little bit harder/more fun. Normal torpedoes
    will bounce when hitting a force field. But if a player has a powershot-torpedo 
    (by taking a P-bonus) it will pass right through.

    You can set a force field between any kind of objects (except wormholes). Normaly you should 
    use the "Force field station" as a connection point. You do this by first select an object 
    and then click another object while holding down ctrl.
    
    To remove a force field hold down ctrl and click on an empty space.

8. ALIENS

    Aliens will appear to beam back destroyed wast pods (very annoying). You can set out several
    aliens but only one will be active at a time.
    
    How often an alien will appear is controlled by a setting in the output level file and can 
    not be set from within the editor. (Se OTHER SETTINGS below.)

9. ASTEROIDS

    Asteroids will randomly appear, heading towards Earth. The player must then destroy the
    asteroid or lose 2500 points. You can set out several asteroids but only one will be active 
    at a time.
    
    The asteroids can be placed everywhere but for best effect, place them at the level border with
    a clear way towards Earth.
    
    How often an asteroid will appear is controlled by a setting in the output level file and can 
    not be set from within the editor. (Se OTHER SETTINGS below.)

10. WORMHOLES

    You normally use the wormholes in pairs (all though you can use three or more).
    To connect the wormholes you the same as you do when you set up a force field.
    You do this by first select an wormhole and then click another wormhole while holding 
    down ctrl.
    
    Note! You will have to do this for both ends if you want them both ends to be connected.

11. OTHER SETTINGS

    Some settings can't be modified from within the level editor. But you can (after saving the level 
    by pressing F3 in edit-mode) open the level file and modify them afterwards.
    
    Open the level file with a text editor. It can look something like this:
    
    P,400.000000,550.000000
    L,1,10,2
    S,1,5,8
    O,100,125.000000,331.000000
    O,17,469.000000,176.000000
    O,17,661.000000,290.000000
    O,13,399.000000,352.000000
    O,101,800.000000,413.000000
    O,101,89.000000,0.000000
    O,50,341.000000,303.000000
    O,50,388.000000,283.000000
    O,50,430.000000,289.000000
    O,50,465.000000,323.000000
    O,50,555.000000,130.000000
    O,50,596.000000,156.000000
    O,50,644.000000,187.000000
    O,50,663.000000,122.000000
    E,2,1

    The interesting rows are the second and the third.
    L,1,10,2
    S,1,5,8

    Alien settings
               
        You can change how often the alien ship beams in by changing the row that looks like this:
        
        L,1,10,2
        
        This tells the game that an alien ship will appear somewhere between every shot to every tenth shot (1,10).
        It also tells the game that the alien ship will only appear two times (the last 2)
        
        If you would like alien ship to appear every second shot 99 times the row should look like this.
        
        L,2,2,99
        
     Asteroid settings
       
        The asteroid settings works in the same way as fro the alien settings. An asteroid line looks like this:
        
        S,1,5,8
        
        This tells the game that an asteroid will appear somewhere between every shot to every fifth shot (1,5).
        It also tells the game that there will be a maximum of 8 asteroids (the last 8)

12. INSTALL LEVEL

    To make the level accessible from Slingshot in normal game play, copy the level file to the data/levels folder.
    It can be named anything but the extension must be ".lvl".

13. POST LEVEL

    If you would like your level to be included in the next release of Slingshot just mail it to john@arainyday.se.